Minister of State and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Public Communication and Digital Platforms Fahd Haroon on Friday stressed the need for local application development and entrepreneurship opportunities in order to harness Pakistan’s digital potential.
Speaking at an Iftar gathering arranged by a telecom company, Haroon said that most countries relied on their own digital ecosystems, and Pakistan should follow it as this would encourage local application developments and entrepreneurship opportunities.
He said that digital platforms were the building block of economic diplomacy and create job and entrepreneurial opportunities for the youth of Pakistan. Indigenous platforms can develop future markets for Pakistani talent, products, and services, he added.
Pakistan’s population of 232 million consists mostly of youth, Haroon said, while urging public and private sectors to jointly harness this potential.
He said: “As per the Online Labour Observatory, Pakistan is the third-largest human resource contributor in the freelancing world.” Pakistan has a share of 12% of human resources that contribute to the various strata of the freelancing world.”
He also highlighted the importance of developing and harnessing the creative economies of Pakistan, which are major drivers of economic growth in many countries.